Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun is still sulking over the decision of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress to uphold the candidacy of Dapo Abiodun as the governorship candidate for the state.
On Monday, he poured his frustration on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Aremo Segun Osoba and party chairman Adams Oshiomhole, accusing them of conspiracy in dumping his preferred candidate, Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade.
At the ceremony to swear in Mojisola Dipeolu as the new chief judge of the state, Amosun went ballistic and attacked the trio for “conniving with a cabal in Lagos” to write a fake result which produced Dapo Abiodun as the party’s candidate for the 2019 governorship election.
In a report by Punch, Amosun alleged that the silence of Tinubu and Osoba, who were aware of what transpired in the state with respect to the primary, smacked of complicity.
“The President already knows there was no election in Ogun State. He knows that they just went to Lagos; wrote all results, and that what they did was fraud.
“If the National Working Committee or the national chairman said there was any election in Ogun State, it was all fraud. That is what I said.”
“The issue of Chief Osoba and Asiwaju and co, what we said was that there was a definite silence from their end, and silence means consent. You can record me and publish it in your newspapers.
“We have not heard one word from any of them. Was there any election in Ogun State? ‘Yes’ or ‘No?’ They should come out and those that are hiding behind one finger, they cannot come out?”
“People at this level should be courageous enough to take position, to come out, to come and tell us whether there was election.
“On governorship, the day they said they did it or not, the one that we had, there was live telecast, people even witnessed it. They all came that they are changing again.
“They removed Leke Adewolu, Mikail Kazeem. All of those ones are nothing but fraud.”
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As he spoke, about 200 APC councillors in the state staged a protest at the Arcade Ground at the secretariat, demanding that the party’s NWC should recognise Adekunle Akinlade as the party’s governorship candidate.
The councillors marched with placards with inscriptions such as, ‘We want justice in Ogun APC’, ‘Give us Triple A’, ‘Oshiomhole, Osinbajo, we want justice in Ogun State’ and a ‘Minority cannot take charge over majority’, among others.
Almost about the same time, some groups namely, Ogun Progressive Students, Ogun Youth Assembly, Coalition of Ogun Traders, among others, organised a counter-protest not far away.
The protesters who converged on the Nigeria Union of Journalists secretariat, Oke Ilewo, urged Amosun, to accept the party’s decision and support Dapo Abiodun as the party’s the governorship candidate.
The groups on their part condemned what they termed the “determined mission of Amosun” to drag the hard-earned integrity of Ogun State through the mud.
They were led by the convener of Ogun Progressive Youths and students, Adeyemi Azeez; convener of Movement for Secure Nigeria, Abdul-Kabiru Ayoola; and the Secretary, Ogun Arewa Council, Idris Muhammad.
They also carried placards with different inscriptions, some of them read, ‘Adams Oshiomhole don’t compromise,’ ‘Protect our mandate,’ ‘Don’t compromise, Dapo Abiodun is our man,’ ‘Don’t kill democracy, the voice of the people must be heard, Amosun beware!’.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
